Megan Salois

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13 fascinating facts about Megan Salois:
• I'm a St. Patrick's Day baby, born on March 17th!
• I can clog and play the piano, but not at the same time.
• I performed in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games Opening Ceremony. I was a part of the black ring when we formed the Olympic rings on the field.
• My dad was struck by lightning and survived.
• I love to cook! I try at least one new recipe a week. My husband, Chris, is my test subject.
• I am half French-Canadian which explains the last name. My great great great great great Grandfather left France and came to Canada to fight against the Americans in the French and Indian War. He was given a plot of land near Montreal and a French bride.
• My dad builds fighter jets, my middle sister is a science teacher, and my youngest sister is studying to be an astro-physicist. My mom brings us all down to Earth.
• My husband proposed to me at the Rockefeller Center Ice Skating Rink in New York City.
• My son, Nathan, is a long baby. He was 22.5" long at birth and remains in the 100th percentile in length for his age group.
• My first car was a light blue 1983 Honda Civic Wagon. I had a bumper sticker on it asking someone to "Please Steal This Car."
• I adopted my cat, Quincy, one month before his shelter burnt to the ground due to an electrical fire.
• I wanted to become a meteorologist because I was scared of thunderstorms as a child and teenager.
• My favorite things about living in Iowa are the corn, the Iowa Cubs, the weather (yes, even the snow), and the wonderful friends I've made.
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Meteorologist Megan Salois joined the Channel 13 First Alert Storm Team in April 2006. Megan has been granted her AMS Seal of Approval from the American Meteorological Society and is a member of the National Weather Association. You can see her on Channel 13 s popular Today in Iowa Saturday and Sunday programs as well as Channel 13 News at Noon.

Megan comes to Channel 13 News from WQOW-TV in Eau Claire, Wisconsin where she was their weekend meteorologist and reporter. Megan earned her Certificate in Broadcast Meteorology from Mississippi State University in 2005 and her Bachelor s degree in journalism from The University of Georgia.

Megan’s favorite type of weather to forecast is severe thunderstorms and tornado outbreaks. Her most memorable moments forecasting tornadoes include the Ladysmith, Wisconsin tornado and the Parkersburg, Iowa tornado. The Ladysmith tornado hit the small town just before 5 PM on Labor Day 2002. Megan was covering the evening weathercasts that night and went live immediately with the warning that a tornado was moving towards Downtown Ladysmith. She then followed up with nearly a dozen news reports following the clean-up and recovery in the small Wisconsin town. The Ladysmith tornado was rated an F3 tornado. The morning of May 25th, 2008, Megan forecasted on Today in Iowa Sunday that a major tornado outbreak with the potential of long-lived strong tornadoes was possible that day. In the afternoon, a powerful tornado ripped through Parkersburg and was verified as an EF5 tornado, the strongest tornado possible.

Megan is also willing to go out in the cold for Central Iowa’s viewers. She’s been known to stand in blizzards and ice storms to make sure you’re aware of the conditions outside and can make your plans accordingly. Her experience in the elements helps her to have a better understanding of winter weather and improve her future forecasts for the next big snow storm to hit Central Iowa.

Megan grew up outside Atlanta, GA. She became fascinated with the weather because of her father's close call. He was struck by lightning while in high school and survived.

Megan, her husband Chris, and sons Nathan and Joshua live in Urbandale. They enjoy spending time outside on the trails and at the parks around the Metro. Megan also loves to cook and try new recipes. They are active members of St. Pius Catholic Church.

Recent Articles

Earl May’s Tim Rundlett covers how to get rid of insect pests on plants, as well as how to prevent the loss of fruit on fruit trees. You can watch his answers here. If you have a question for Tim, he’d love to answer them next weekend. Submit them by clicking here.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Strong storms in Nebraska are lined up and ready to push into Central Iowa overnight tonight. A few of these storms may produce large hail and damaging winds. Heavy rain will be another main threat, with widespread totals potentially over one inch. Training of storms may lead to localized areas of 2 to 4″ in very short time periods, leading to flash flooding. Because of this, a Flash Flood watch is in place for much of Western and […]

DES MOINES, Iowa – The bulk of the rain has come to an end for Central Iowa. Most totals were less than four-tenths of an inch. Des Moines only measured .08”. An area of light rain will continue to push southeast, primarily impacting southeast Iowa through early afternoon. The clouds are breaking up a bit in Central Iowa to allow some sunshine today. Temperatures will respond to that and rise to the upper 70s. The atmosphere is a bit unstable […]

Want to add more color to your plate? Pick up a pepper! Bright, mild bell peppers can be sliced, diced or tossed into just about any dish. Not only do they provide vibrant color and crunchy texture, one medium bell pepper has 190% of you daily vitamin C needs for only 25 calories. Red bell peppers are perfect for roasting – it brings out the natural sweetness and adds a slight charred flavor. You can roast red peppers whole, leaving […]

DES MOINES, Iowa – The storms early Sunday morning may not be the last Central Iowa sees of severe weather. The same storm system continues to sit over the Upper Midwest with the center of low pressure in South Dakota. There is a dry slot with some clearing and sunshine in Western Iowa. Meteorologist Megan Salois says this is leading the surface to heat and become more unstable. A few showers were already developing from Carroll to Council Bluffs as […]

DES MOINES, Iowa — After a day of rain and general thunderstorms on Mother’s Day, the weather turned severe during the evening. The first storm report came in at 7:18 PM. A trained storm spotter saw the tornado with debris 4 miles northwest of Lidderdale. They reported the tornado appeared to be getting bigger. The next report came in at 7:29 from a spotter who saw a tornado with multiple vortices and a quarter mile wide just south of Lake City. The spotter […]

DES MOINES, Iowa – A Tornado Watch is now in place for Northwestern Iowa until 9 PM. A Severe Thunderstorm Watch is in effect for Southwest Iowa until 10 PM. Central and Western Iowa are both under an Enhanced Risk of severe weather. An Enhanced Risk indicates there will be numerous severe storms in the highlighted area. The storms will be more persistent and widespread. A few tornadoes are possible with several reports of wind damage, as well as damaging hail of […]

Earl May’s Tim Rundlett has tips on how to prevent black spots on tomatoes and how to get rid of pampas grass. Tim also gives Megan tips on how to build a trellis for her beans and cucumbers. Submit questions by clicking here for next week’s gardening segment with Tim.

This weekend, Earl May’s Tim Rundlett had suggestions on when to trim back your lilacs and how to fertilize lilacs and peonies. He also explains why your lilac may not be blooming. Finally, more answers to a common question: how to get rid of creeping charlie! You can submit your questions for Tim to answer on an upcoming Saturday morning by clicking here.

Fareway’s Whitney Packebush shared with us an easy guacamole you can make to celebrate Cinco de Mayo tonight! It’s delicious and has tons of nutritional benefits. Enjoy! Avocados provide nearly 20 essential nutrients and are part of a health healthy diet, but did you know that peeling the skin from your avocados instead of scooping out the flesh saves more nutrients? The dark green flesh near the skin has been found to contain higher carotenoids than the lighter colored flesh […]